TEMECULA: Third stabbing suspect arrested

Matthew 'Matty' Basler had been on the run for more than two weeks

TEMECULA -- The San Diego-area man suspected of fatally stabbing
the son of a local pastor outside a Temecula bar last month was
arrested Sunday night, authorities said.

Matthew Alexis Basler, 30, was booked into the Southwest
Detention Center in French Valley on charges of murder, attempted
murder and trying to dissuade a witness, jail records show. Bail
was set at $1 million.

Basler, also known as "Matty," was arrested in Vista by
Riverside County Sheriff's Department homicide detectives.

Sgt. Dean Spivacke said Basler contacted the detectives and
surrendered on Sunday. He was arrested at his attorney's office in
Vista.

"We put so much pressure on him that he turned himself in,"
Spivacke said.

The man Basler allegedly stabbed, Ryan Armstrong, died from
multiple stab wounds on Dec. 26, the night of the attack.
Armstrong, a college student, was in town visiting friends and
family during the holiday season.

Witnesses said the pair argued inside a bar on Jefferson Avenue
in Temecula before Basler and two of his acquaintances reportedly
sparked a physical confrontation in the strip mall's parking lot
behind the former Stater Bros. store.

The other two men, including the man whom authorities believe
stabbed one of Armstrong's friends, were arrested two weeks
ago.

Marvin Black, 29, and James Fung, 29, have been booked into jail
on charges of murder, attempted murder and assault with a deadly
weapon, jail records show. Fung also faces a charge of trying to
dissuade a witness.

According to the arrest reports, Fung and Basler threatened a
witness after the stabbing attack, telling a woman not to talk to
police because they knew where she was lived.

Black pleaded not guilty to all charges last week. Basler is
expected to be arraigned Wednesday.

Explaining how Basler turned himself in, Spivacke said several
people Basler knew had been provided with telephone numbers to
reach the homicide unit.

On Thursday, detectives discovered that Basler had sold the
silver truck that was reportedly used in the stabbing attack, the
sergeant said. Also, some of Basler's personal possessions,
including his driver's license, were recovered from a motel room in
which he had been staying, he added.

Spivacke said Basler had tried to sell the truck in an effort to
throw investigators off his track. Based on the photo taken at the
jail when he was booked, Basler also appears to have grown a
goatee.

With the detectives in possession of some items that Basler
needed to move around -- his license chief among them -- Basler
soon gave himself up.

"That put him over the edge," Spivacke said. "He was tired of
constantly looking over his shoulder."

It doesn't appear, Spivacke said, that Basler tried to leave the
country or leave the state.

The unit's detectives built up a list of Basler's known
associates during the investigation, which was launched shortly
after the stabbing.

A list was drawn up of "who did he know and where did he go,"
Spivacke said.

Members of the San Diego Police Department, the California
Department of Justice and the Inland Regional Apprehension Team
assisted the Sheriff's Central Homicide Unit, according to the
Sheriff's Department's news release.